It’s surprising how many people don’t know that small business energy prices are NOT capped. Many people also don’t know that any losses from the domestic market caused by the energy price cap have been passed to the small business sector. 80p per KWh and even £1 a KWh for electric are now commonplace, with a £3 daily standing charge. There are many examples of prices for gas and electric rising by over 600% and these are rising as small businesses come off fixed deals and are offered new deals. This is why most small businesses in the UK should really be putting their affairs in order ready for the big shutdown. Not only have energy prices risen astronomically for these businesses, but also their customer base has been squeezed to the point where disposable income will become a distant, fond, memory.
So, what businesses may be at risk of imminent closure? Pubs, restaurants, nightclubs, takeaways, cafes, nail bars, beauty salons, hairdressers, butchers, bakers, corner shops, sandwich shops, fashion boutiques, pet shops, travel agents, charity shops, coffee shops, book shops, cake shops, jewellers, gift shops, childrens clothes shops, toy shops, card shops, dry cleaners, launderettes, and more, I’m sure you’re getting the picture by now. Most at risk are the small retailers, the hospitality sector and the beauty sector. So, what can be done? The only thing that’s going to save these small business now, is a drastic lowering of energy prices for domestic and business users, but, that will cost the UK Government more than £300 billion a year, and I doubt that’s going to happen. Reductions in VAT may help a little, but domestic energy prices are set to rise by another 52% in January and by April, a KWh of electric is forecast to be £1 on the domestic retail market. That will take huge amounts of disposable income out of the system, so, really we’re looking at a complete wipeout happening over the next three to six months and many hard working businesses owners are going to pay for Conservative Government incompetence.